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Cinema Gazetteer
design by no less than John Nash, however in the 1860s it was
decided that the Town Hall be rebuilt in Gothic style. The architects
were Wilson & Wilcox of Bath, the builders Messrs S J Moreland &
Sons of Gloucester, and was completed in 1870 on Cross Street.
They also built the adjoining covered market, still in use today.
On the third floor of the Town Hall, an entertainment space was
included. This had a flat floor suitable for dancing with a small
balcony. This fine building became the favoured place for
travelling film shows both in the Town Hall and the Market Hall at
the back of the building. The only record of a permanent cinema
here was in 1914 when William Henry Hopwood ran a cinema with a
permanent enclosure for at least a year.
By the 1990's the theatre was known as the Borough and had its
flat floor raked almost to meet the balcony, which still retains its
decorative plasterwork. The stage facilities are limited but this
remains the main live entertainment venue for Abergavenny, but
unfortunately without films.
www.abergavenny.net/theatre
cinema was Richard Dooner. The Dooner family are famous for their fun fair
activities and their early touring film shows. Why Mr Dooner chose
Abergavenny is not clear, as his addess at the time was in Bedminster. The
company he formed was Abergavenny Coliseum Co. Ltd.
The Coliseum opened on 3rd November 1913 on Lion Street. The first film was
Quo Vadis and proceeds were donated to the relief fund for the nearby
Senghenydd Mine disaster of a few weeks earlier. The position of the
auditorium running down the street and the entrance set at an angle is a very
unusual arrangement, but thankfully the fine tile clad entrance with the words
"ABERGAVENNY COLISEUM" still survive and look much as they would when
the cinema first opened. Above the word "ENTRANCE" above the doors was
once a mini balcony in wrought iron which also acted as a slight canopy.
Internally the auditorium was rectangular with a small balcony at the rear
supported on cast iron pillars. The ceiling had a gentle curve with ribs of
decoration running across at intervals with ceiling roses running down the
centre. The side walls and the walls to either side of the narrow proscenium
contained plaster panels. The proscenium itself was flanked by decorative
columns. The seating capacity during the 1930s was 780 and a Western
Electric sound system was installed.
In 1949 Mr Dooner, still the operator invested in a modernisation of the
Coliseum. The old proscenium (25' wide) and ceiling were removed and an
up-to-date interior fitted. A wide proscenium was installed (30' 6" wide) curving
to meet side walls. Horizontal strips run down the side walls from the
proscenium. The ceiling has a central decorative strip running forward. Three
colour footlights were installed with a 28' by 12' CinemaScope screen. The new
colour scheme was pale peach with gold and turquoise enrichments for the
ceiling. The walls banded in cherry and gold splatter effect with a peach
background, with dividing lines of gold, dark cherry and turquoise. Doors and
woodwork are deep cherry super gloss. There is a curved paybox in the foyer.
the cinema is not clear, but in the 1980s it was run by Dunraven Leisure Ltd along with the other Dooner
property the Pavilion. The new owners eventually close the cinema in May 1987. In 1988 a shop operates
in the auditorium and in 1992 the bingo operation at the Pavilion moves into the Coliseum. Unfortunately
due to the poor state of repair the interior of the Coliseum is completely gutted at this time. By 1996 the
building is again closed and up for sale, and in 2000 Wetherspoons Pubs spends £985,000 refurbishing the
building to become one of its outlets.
builds a second cinema on Monk Street. The building dates from
the late 1920s as the design of the facade indicates but the cinema
closed in the early 1930s and did not reopen until 1935
A grand re-opening takes place on 6th May 1935 by the Mayor Clr.
M L Beveridge. The cinema now had Western Electric sound and
been redecorated and reseated. The seating capacity was about
550. The first film was Forsaking All Others & Lessons in Golf.
modern was only ever second place to the Coliseum, which might explain why the ageing Coliseum was
modernised in the late 1940s, to remain the dominant cinema.
The Pavilion closed on 9th November 1967 to become a bingo hall, which it remained until under new
ownership of Dunraven Leisure Ltd, the bingo operation was moved in 1992 to the then closed Coliseum.
The Pavilion, in a poor state of repair was put on the market, a plan to turn it into a nightclub or cinema
failed and in 1999 Abergavenny Family Church bought the Pavilion and repaired the building which is now
the Gateway Christian Centre. Little of the interior remains.
such a magnificent Victorian building as Abergavenny's former
Mental Hospital. So vast is its beautiful frontage I could not find a
means of capturing it in its entirety. The right hand wing is the
original hospital of 1851 designed by Giles & Gough of London,
while an almost identical wing was added later to the left. In recent
times the building has been converted to a high standard into
apartments and the grounds landscaped. If you visit Abergavenny
you must come and appreciate this building for yourself.
The Cinematograph Licence was held by the Clerk and Steward of the hospital, Albert Frank Stewart. The
projectors were Kalee 7's. However by 1950 the building is Crown Property and under the 1946 National
Health Services Act, does not require a licence for film shows. Shows were run in the hall, perhaps part of
the main building.
Park Hall Cinema ~ Picture Palace
building was known as Park Hall but advertised as Picture Palace. Earlier the venue had been used for live
shows run by Graham Douglas, but by 1913 James Charles Gwatkin & Harry Vesey Saies were running the
venue as a cinema with a permanent enclosure. The operation appears to cease at the end of the First
World War.
Castle Cinema
castle that was run by the Army Kinema Corporation.